Spain's governing party picks hard-liner for Catalonia election

MADRID, July 28 (Reuters) - Spain's governing People's Party
(PP) picked a staunch opponent of Catalan independence on
Tuesday to lead its local election campaign in the region, where
separatists have found new momentum for their cause.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's party chose Xavier Garcia
Albiol, a former mayor of the coastal city of Badalona known for
his uncompromising stance on secession, just two weeks after
pro-independence parties agreed to present a joint candidacy for
the regional elections.

Political analysts said the PP was betting on Garcia Albiol
to try to win back voters who deserted to other parties such as
pro-market Ciudadanos, which started in the region several years
ago but is now spreading out strongly across Spain.

According to two opinion polls released earlier this month,
the PP could win as few as seven seats in the 135-strong Catalan
legislature, which would be its worst result since 1988.

Suggesting he aims to woo Ciudadanos supporters, Garcia
Albiol criticised the party's leader, Catalan lawyer Albert
Rivera, for running in the general election but not in the
regional vote.

"I assume the responsibility of leading our campaign at very
difficult times for Catalonia and Spain. I could have done like
Rivera and gone to Madrid for applause and pats on the back, but
Catalonia can't afford that," he told journalist after his
appointment.
(Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Julien Toyer and Tom
Heneghan)